THE PUBLISHING HOUSE 
 
 OF 
 
 RIVINGTON

 
 Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN 
 
 THE 
 
 PUBLISHING HOUSE 
 
 OF 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 SEPTIMUS RIVINGTON 
 
 RIVINGTON, PERCIVAL, & Co. 
 
 1894
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 rr Y OF CALIFORNIA 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 IN printing an account of the publishing 
 business of my family, I have thought it 
 better to let others tell the story, than write 
 it afresh myself. In its present form it may 
 be interesting to some of our friends who 
 publish with us, as well as of use to those of 
 the family and firm who may follow in the 
 
 future. 
 
 S. R. 
 
 34 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN, 
 LONDON, April 1894.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PORTRAIT AND FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH OF CHARLES 
 
 RIVINGTON (1754-1831) Frontispiece 
 
 FACSIMILE OF EARLIEST PRINTED SIGN OF THE PUBLISH- 
 ING HOUSE, THE BIBLE AND CROWN L . . Titlepage 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE v 
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE x 
 
 PARTNERS AND STYLES OF THE FIRM, WITH DATES . xi 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS ON THE RIVINGTON MEMORIAL STONES 
 
 IN ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL .... xiv. xv 
 
 FROM CURWEN'S " HISTORY OF BOOKSELLERS " i 
 
 FACSIMILE OF TITLEPAGE OF EARLY BOOK PUBLISHED 
 
 IN 1715 Tofacep. 2 
 
 FACSIMILE OF TITLEPAGE AND ILLUSTRATION OF 
 
 BOOK PUBLISHED IN 1720 . . . To face pp. 4, 5 
 
 FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH OF JOHN RIVINGTON, 1742 . 13 
 
 FACSIMILE OF TAILPIECES TO EARLY BOOK PUBLISHED 
 
 IN 1715 26, 54 
 
 FRANCIS RIVINGTON (1745-1822} 27
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHARLES RIVINGTON (1754-1831) 28 
 
 FRANCIS RIVINGTON (1806-1885) 32 
 
 PORTRAIT AND FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH OF FRANCIS 
 
 RIVINGTON To face p. 33 
 
 FROM "THE BOOKSELLER," June, 1890 .... 36 
 
 PORTRAIT AND FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH OF JOHN 
 
 RIVINGTON (1812-1886) .... To face p. 47 
 
 FROM "THE ATHENAEUM," July i, 1893 .... 49 
 FROM "THE PUBLISHERS' CIRCULAR," July i, 1893 . 50 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 FROM CHARLES RIVINGTON'S JOURNAL, 1778-81 . . 57 
 DEATH OF CAPTAIN ROBERT RIVINGTON ... 77
 
 GENEALOGY
 
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 PUBLISHING 
 
 CHARLES, 1 
 
 son (of two children) 
 'hurston Rivington. 
 . 1688, d. 1742. 
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 1 
 
 Francis Har 
 Eldest son (of i, 
 . 183^ 
 
 or in Fenchurch Street, 
 Circular, November 15 
 in 1889 head of the firm 
 
 
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 *' " _ j J5 J3
 
 THE STYLES AND DATES OF THE FIRM 
 
 1. CHARLES RIVINGTON, 1711-1742. 
 
 2. JOHN and JAMES Sons, i742-(?). 
 
 3. JOHN See below. 
 
 4. JOHN, FRANCIS, and CHARLES Father and two Sons, (?)- 
 
 1792. 
 
 5. FRANCIS and CHARLES Brothers, 1792-1810. 
 
 6. P'RANCIS, CHARLES, and JOHN Two Brothers and Son, 
 
 1810-1822. 
 
 7. CHARLES and JOHN Uncle and Nephew, 1822-1827. 
 
 8. CHARLES, JOHN, GEORGE, and FRANCIS Uncle, Nephew, 
 
 and two Sons of Charles, 1827-1831. 
 
 9. JOHN, GEORGE, and FRANCIS Cousin and two Brothers, 
 
 1831-1836. 
 
 10. JOHN, GEORGE, FRANCIS, and JOHN Cousin, two Brothers, 
 
 and Son of John, 1836-1841. 
 
 11. GEORGE, FRANCIS, and JOHN Two Brothers and Second 
 
 Cousin, 1841-1842. 
 
 12. FRANCIS and JOHN Second Cousins, 1842-1859. 
 
 13. JOHN and FRANCIS HANSARD Second Cousins, once removed, 
 
 1859-1866. 
 
 14. FRANCIS HANSARD and SEPTIMUS Brothers, Sons of Francis, 
 
 1867-1889. 
 
 [Francis Hansard sold the business, after his brother had 
 dissolved his partnership with him, to Longmans.] 
 
 15. SEPTIMUS RIVINGTON, son of Francis, and JOHN GUTHRIE 
 
 PERCIVAL, son of Dr. Percival, Head Master of Rugby 
 School, 1889-1893, under the style of PERCIVAL & Co. 
 
 16. The same, under the style of RIVINGTON, PERCIVAL & Co., 
 
 July i, 1893.
 
 Inscripti 
 
 RIVI1 
 
 Memorial Stones lying in the Crypt of i 
 
 Here lie the Remains of 
 Mr. JOHN RIVINGTON 
 
 late of this Parish 
 
 Who died the i6th of January 1792 
 
 in the 72nd Year of his Age 
 
 Also of 
 Mrs. ELIZA MILLER RIVINGTON 
 
 His Wife 
 Who died the 2ist of October 1792 
 
 Aged 69 Years . 
 
 Also HENRY RIVINGTON 
 
 Son of Francis Rivington 
 
 Who died the 6th April 1814 
 
 Aged 23 Years 
 
 In I 
 
 JAN 
 
 Chart 
 
 Formerl; 
 
 Who Die 
 
 Age 
 
 And of Mr. C 
 
 Who Dice 
 
 Age 
 
 Also of ROBEI 
 
 Son 01 
 
 Charles ] 
 
 Who Diec 
 
 InH 
 
 Also of Miss P. 
 
 Daughte 
 
 Who Died 
 
 In He 
 
 Also SAR 
 
 Sister 
 
 Charles I 
 
 Who Diec 
 
 InH. 
 
 AlsoH 
 
 Charles Rivingtc 
 
 Born 3oth May 183 
 
 Aged 
 
 Also of Mrs. MAI 
 
 The Above Charh 
 
 Who Died Aug. 41 
 
 HENR'S 
 
 Son of Charles 
 
 Born Aug. soth 18; 
 
 Also Mrs. SUSAN HAJ 
 
 William Rivington Esqr. Son of 
 
 Who Died June roth 
 
 N.J3. These Stones are laid in the porti 
 LENT, 1890.
 
 s on the 
 xTON 
 
 : Cathedral Church of St. Paul, London. 
 
 iory of 
 
 Vife of 
 
 ^ivington 
 
 this Parish 
 
 ec. 8th 1829 
 
 c Years 
 
 tLES RlVINGTON 
 
 iy 26th 1831 
 
 :> Years i 
 
 tiviNGTON Esqr. 
 
 i.e Above 
 
 agton Esq. 
 
 n. loth 1832 
 
 4th Year 
 
 RIET RlVINGTON 
 
 the Above 
 rch 1 5th 1832 
 ;>th Year 
 
 RlVINGTON 
 
 |ie Above 
 tgton Esqr. 
 [y 2nd 1832 
 oth Year 
 y Son of 
 
 nd Mary His Wife 
 Died loth April 1835 
 Months 
 
 IVINGTON Sister of 
 nd Sarah Rivington 
 ?3S in her 88th Year. 
 VINGTON 
 , Mary Rivington 
 
 Died Nov. 26 1836. 
 PON RIVINGTON Wife of 
 e Above Charles & Jane Rivington 
 7. In Her ayth Year 
 
 In Memory of 
 
 Mr. FRANCIS RIVINGTON 
 
 Who Died Oct. i8th 1822 
 
 In the 78th Year of His Age 
 
 Also of 
 
 MARGARET His Wife 
 
 Who Died Nov. 23rd 1828 
 
 Aged 74 Years 
 
 Also CHARLES 
 
 Second Son of The Above 
 
 Who Died Oct. ist 1843 
 
 Aged 57 Years 
 
 of the Crypt now used as a Choir Vestry.
 
 I 
 
 " I A HE following account of the firm is Curwen's 
 extracted, with some omissions and I i tsto , ry 1 ^ 
 
 Booksellers. 
 
 corrections of matters of fact, from A History 
 of Booksellers, by Henry Cur wen, London, 
 1873, now out of print. 
 
 Not only is the Rivington family the 
 oldest still existing in bookselling annals, 
 but even in itself it succeeded, a century 
 and a half ago, to a business already re- 
 markable for antiquity. In 1711, on the 
 death of Richard Chiswell, 1 styled by Dun- 
 ton "the Metropolitan of booksellers," his 
 premises and his trade passed into the hands 
 of Charles Rivington, and the sign of the 
 " Bible and the Crown " was then first erected 
 over the doorway of the house in Paternoster 
 Row ; and from that time to this the " Bible 
 and the Crown " might have been fairly 
 stamped upon the cover of nearly every book 
 issued from the establishment, as a seal and 
 token of its contents. 
 
 1 The printer of much of Dryden's poetry. I have an abridgment 
 of Burnet's History of the Reformation published by Chiswell in 
 1683. [S. R.] 
 
 B I
 
 Curwen's Charles Rivington was born at Chester- 
 
 BookselUrs ^ e ^ ^ n Derbyshire, towards the close of the 
 seventeenth century, 1 and from a very early 
 age he evinced such a taste for religious books 
 that his friends determined to send him to 
 London, that he might become a theological 
 bookseller. Having served his apprentice- 
 ship with a Mr. Matthews, he was, in 1711, 
 made free of the city, preparatory to entering 
 into business on his own account, and, bearing 
 the date of that year, bill-heads are still 
 existing to which his name is affixed. 2 In 
 1718 we find him, in conjunction with other 
 firms, issuing proposals to print by subscrip- 
 tion Mason's Vindication of the Church of 
 England, and the Ministry thereof, a principle 
 that the family has strictly adhered to ever 
 since ; for though Rivington published one 
 of Whitfield's very earliest works, The Nature 
 and Necessity of a New Birth in Christ, 
 preached at Bristol in September 1737, the 
 
 1 In 1688. 
 
 2 I have inserted a facsimile reproduction of the titlepage of the 
 earliest book I possess published by my great great grandfather, 
 Charles Rivington, in 1715, " The Archbishop of Cambray's Pastoral 
 Letter," etc. Here also is a list of books then lately (i.e. before 
 
 2
 
 THE 
 
 ARCHBISHOP 
 
 O F 
 
 CAMBRAYs 
 
 PASTORAL LETTER 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 The Love of G D. 
 
 TOGETHER 
 
 With the Opinions of the FATHER^ 
 on the fame Subjeft. 
 
 Now done into Englifh. 
 
 To which is added, 
 A Circular Letter, by George Bull, D. D. 
 late Lord Bifliop of S. David's ; his Vifi- 
 tation Sermon, and his Charge to his 
 Diocefe. 
 
 Publifhed by 
 
 ROBERT NELSON,EC<n. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for Charles Rjvington, at the Bible and 
 
 Crown in S. Ptufs Church-yard. 1715.
 
 author was then a young Oxford student, Curwen's 
 who had been but just ordained ; and Wesley, Booksellers. 
 too, the other great religious mover of the 
 day, was still a fellow of Lincoln College, 
 Oxford, when Rivington brought out his 
 (Wesley's) edition of Thomas a Kempis's 
 Imitation of Christ? a book that has, after 
 
 1715) printed for Charles Rivington, at the Bible and Crown, in S. 
 Paul's Churchyard. 
 
 1. Primitive Christianity ; or, The Religion of the Ancient 
 Christians, in the First Ages of the Gospel. In Three Parts. By 
 William Cave, D.D. The Seventh Edition. Price 53. 
 
 2. The Christian indeed, and faithful Pastor ; impartially repre- 
 sented in a Practical Essay, and Historical Account of the Exemplary 
 Life and Works of the late eminent William Asspeton, D.D., Rector 
 of Beckenham in Kent, Prebendary of York, and Chaplain to his 
 Grace the Duke of Ormond. By Thomas Watts, A.M., Vicar of 
 Orpington, and S. Mary Cray. 8vo. Price 35. 
 
 3. The Vertue of Humility ; recommended to be printed by the 
 late Reverend and Learned Dr. Henry Hammond. The Third 
 Edition, in I2s. Price 2s. 
 
 4. Advice to young Beginners in the Christian Religion ; in a 
 Letter to a God-Daughter, after Confirmation. Price 3d. or 205. 
 per Hundred. 
 
 5. The Lord is my Portion ; or, the Christian's Pathway to 
 Heaven, necessary for Families. By Tho. Allen, Vicar of Arlaster, 
 Northamptonshire. Price 3d. or 2os. per Hundred. 
 
 6. The Christian's Exercise ; or, Rules to live above the World 
 while we are in it ; with Meditations, Hymns, and Soliloquies, suited 
 to the several Stages of Christian Life. Adorn'd with curious Sculp- 
 tures. In Four Parts. By Thomas a Kempis. To which is added 
 an Appendix of Letters, Dialogues, etc. Address'd to all the true 
 Lovers of Devotion. By Robert Nelson, Esq. Price 6s. [S. R. ] 
 
 1 I have a copy of this book, the titlepage printed in red and 
 black, and illustrated with plates, dated 1735. 
 
 I also have in my possession, among several books of an early 
 
 3
 
 Curwen's 
 History of 
 Booksellers. 
 
 the Bible, gone through more editions than 
 any other. 
 
 About 1719, an association of some half a 
 dozen respectable booksellers entered into 
 partnership for the purpose of printing ex- 
 pensive books, and styled themselves the 
 printing Conger? and, in 1736, another 
 similar company was started by Rivington 
 and Bettesworth, who termed themselves 
 the "New Conger." 
 
 date, copies of " The Scourge : in Vindication of the Church of 
 England," 1720, with the titlepage printed in red and black, and 
 the Bible and Crown on it. This is the earliest representation of 
 the sign of the Publishing House of which I am aware, and I have 
 therefore placed it on the titlepage of this book. I also give, 
 opposite pages 4 and 5, facsimile reproductions of the titlepage and 
 facing illustration of Part II. of " The Scourge," etc. 
 
 The " Heretical Synod " here referred to was a meeting of 
 " Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations in 
 and about the City of London," convened by "a general summons 
 sent to the whole Body," and held at Sailers' Hall on March 10, 
 1718-19, to discuss and settle certain matters of doctrine the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity in particular that had been giving rise to 
 disputes among various dissenting congregations. 
 
 The meeting appears to have been a very disorderly one, and the 
 debate to have been conducted in a most unseemly manner, with 
 little regard for the character of the questions under discussion. No 
 agreement appears to have been come to, each party maintaining its 
 own view against the others ; and each seems to have published its 
 own account of the strife. Denials, contradictions, and recriminations 
 followed, and a petty war of pamphlets raged for some time. [S. R.] 
 
 1 The term Conger is ingeniously said to be derived from the eel, 
 meaning that the association, collectively, would swallow all smaller 
 fry. 
 
 4
 
 gYNOP ^z/ S alters -Hall
 
 THE 
 
 ANATOMY 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 HERETICAL SYNOD 
 
 O F 
 
 DISSENTERS 
 
 A T 
 
 SALTERS-HALL. 
 
 Wherein is Represented, 
 
 i 
 
 I. THE Moderation and Chriftian Temper of an 
 AJJembly of Divines. 
 
 II. THE Gravity and Candor of their Debates. 
 
 III. THE Language and Civility they ufe in Re- 
 ligious Controverfy. 
 
 IV. THE Reverence they profefs for the Divinity 
 of Cbtift) for Creeds, Canons, &c. 
 
 Colleaed from their late BLASPHEMOUS Writings 
 for the Information of Pofterity ; With fhort Remarks. 
 
 In a LETTER to a Country Friend. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for CHARLES RIVINGTON, 1710
 
 Much of Rivington's business consisted in Curwen's 
 the publication of sermons, which, as a simple Booksellers. 
 commission trade, was profitable without 
 risk. An amusing story is told, which proves 
 that the ponderous nature of his trade stock 
 did not prevent Charles Rivington from being 
 a man of kindly humour. A poor vicar, in a 
 remote country diocese, had preached a 
 sermon so acceptable to his parishioners, 
 that they begged him to have it printed, and 
 full of the honour conferred and the greater 
 honours about to come, the clergyman at 
 once started for London, was recommended 
 to Rivington, to whom he triumphantly 
 related the object of his journey. Rivington 
 agreed to his proposals, and asked how many 
 copies he would like struck off. " Why, sir," 
 replied the clergyman, " I have calculated 
 that there are in the kingdom ten thousand 
 parishes, and that each parish will, at least, 
 take one and others more, so that I think we 
 may venture to print thirty-five or thirty-six 
 thousand copies." 
 
 Rivington remonstrated, the author in- 
 sisted, and the matter was settled. With 
 
 5
 
 Curwen's great self-denial, the clergyman waited at 
 Booksellers nome f r nearly two months in silence, but 
 at length the hope of fame and riches so 
 tormented him that he could hold out no 
 longer, and he wrote to Rivington desiring 
 him to send in the debtor and creditor 
 account at once, but adding liberally that 
 the remittance might be forwarded at his 
 own convenience. What, then, was his 
 astonishment, anguish, and tribulation, when 
 the following account was received : 
 
 The Revd. Dr. * * * 
 
 To C. Rivington, Dr. 
 
 s. d. 
 To Printing and Paper, 35,000 Copies of 
 
 Sermon . . . . . 785 5 6 
 
 By sale of 1 7 Copies of said Sermon . . 156 
 
 Balance due to C. Rivington . . ^784 o o 
 
 In a day or two he received a letter from 
 Rivington to the following purport : 
 
 " REV. SIR I beg pardon for innocently 
 amusing myself at your expense, but you 
 need not give yourself any uneasiness. I 
 knew better than you could do the extent of
 
 the sale of single sermons, and accordingly Curwen's 
 printed one hundred copies, to the expense 
 of which you are heartily welcome." * 
 
 In 1736 Rivington became an active 
 member of a society for promoting the 
 encouragement of learning, but as he and 
 his colleagues sustained much injury through 
 it, this was in the following year abandoned. 
 
 In 1737 we find him venturing in a very 
 different path. "Two booksellers," writes 
 Richardson, " my particular friends (Riving- 
 ton and Osborne), entreated me to write for 
 them a little volume of letters, in a common 
 style, on such subjects as might be of use to 
 those country readers who were unable to 
 indite for themselves. ' Would it be any 
 harm,' said I, 'in a piece you want to be 
 written so low, if one should instruct them 
 how they should think and act in common 
 cases, as well as indite ? ' They were the 
 more urgent for me to begin the little volume 
 for the hint. I set about it, and in the 
 progress of writing two or three letters to 
 instruct handsome girls who were obliged to 
 
 1 Aldine Magazine, p. 50. 
 
 7
 
 Curwen's go out to service, as we phrase it, how to 
 Booksellers. av id the snares that might be laid against 
 their virtue, the above story occurred to me, 
 and hence sprang Pamela" The first two 
 volumes of the story were written in three 
 months, and never was a book of this kind 
 more generally or more quickly admired. 
 Pope asserted that it would do more good 
 than twenty sermons, mindful, perhaps, of 
 its publisher ; Slocock and many other 
 eminent divines recommended it from the 
 pulpit ; a critic declared that if all books 
 were burnt, the Bible and Pamela ought to 
 be preserved ; and even at fashionable Rane- 
 lagh, where the former was in but little 
 request, " it was usual for the ladies to hold 
 up the volume (the latter) to one another, to 
 show that they had got the book that every 
 one was talking of." What, however, was 
 more to Rivington's purpose, the volume 
 went through five editions in the year of 
 publication, 1741. 
 
 This success closed Charles Rivington's 
 business life, for he died on the 22nd of 
 February 1742.
 
 By Eleanor Pease, his wife, a native Curwen's 
 of Newcastle- on -Tyne, he had six children, 
 to whom his friend Samuel Richardson, the 
 executor also of his will, acted as guardian. 
 
 Charles, the founder, was succeeded by 
 John and James, who carried on the publishing 
 business conjointly for several years, after 
 which James joined a Mr. Fletcher, in St. 
 Paul's Churchyard, with whom he brought 
 out Smollett's History of England, by which 
 ; 1 0,000 was cleared the largest profit that 
 had yet been made on any single book. 
 This success, however, encouraged James to 
 neglect his affairs, and he took to frequenting 
 Newmarket ; racing and gambling soon 
 ended in a failure, and in 1760 he thought 
 it advisable to start for the New World. 
 Here, in Philadelphia, he commenced his 
 celebrated Gazette, and, as he advocated the 
 British interests and took the loyal side, his 
 premises were destroyed by the rebels, and 
 his type cast into republican bullets. James 
 Rivington then came back to London, where 
 he obtained the appointment of " King's 
 printer to America," and furnished afresh 
 
 9
 
 Curwen's with types and presses he returned to re- 
 commence his Royal Gazette, which he 
 carried on boldly up to the withdrawal of 
 the British troops ; and as he had contrived 
 somehow, it is said by forwarding early 
 intelligence, to propitiate the enemy, he was 
 allowed to continue his paper, which soon 
 died for want of subscribers; but until 1802 
 he lived in New York, leaving many 
 descendants there. Even in those early 
 and unsophisticated days, Yankee gentlemen 
 had contracted the habit of "cowhiding" 
 obnoxious or impertinent editors, and the 
 wit of the Royal Gazette was in its time 
 sufficiently stinging and personal to involve 
 its proprietor in many of these little diffi- 
 culties. James Rivington relates rather an 
 amusing story of an interview with Ethan 
 Allen, one of the republican heroes, who 
 came for the express purpose of administering 
 chastisement. He says : 
 
 " I was sitting down, after a good dinner, 
 with a bottle of Madeira before me, when I 
 heard an unusual noise in the street, and a 
 
 huzza from the boys. I was on the second 
 
 * 10
 
 story, and, stepping to the window, saw a tall Curwen's 
 figure in tarnished regimentals, with a large Booksellers. 
 cocked hat and an enormously long sword, 
 followed by a crowd of boys, who occasionally 
 cheered him with huzzas, of which he seemed 
 quite unaware. He came up to my door and 
 stopped. I could see no more my heart 
 told me it was Ethan Allen. I shut my 
 window, and retired behind my table and my 
 bottle. I was certain the hour of reckon- 
 ing had come there was no retreat. Mr. 
 Staples, my clerk, came in, paler than ever, 
 clasping his hands ' Master, he has come ! ' 
 ' I know it.' I made up my mind, looked 
 at the Madeira, possibly took a glass. ' Show 
 him up, and if such Madeira cannot mollify 
 him, he must be harder than adamant.' There 
 was a fearful moment of suspense ; I heard 
 him on the stairs, his long sword clanking at 
 every step. In he stalked. 'Is your name 
 James Rivington?' ' It is, sir, and no man 
 can be more delighted to see Colonel Ethan 
 
 Allen. 1 'Sir, I have come ' ' Not another 
 
 word, my dear Colonel, until you have taken 
 a seat and a glass of old Madeira.' ' But, 
 
 ii
 
 Curwen's sir, I don't think it proper ' ' Not another 
 
 Booksellers wor< ^> Colonel, but taste this wine ; I have 
 had it in glass ten years.' He took the 
 glass, swallowed the wine, smacked his lips, 
 and shook his head approvingly. 'Sir, I 
 
 come ' ' Not another word until you 
 
 have taken another glass, and then, my dear 
 Colonel, we will talk of old officers, and I 
 have some queer events to detail.' In short, 
 we finished three bottles of Madeira, and 
 parted as good friends as if we never had 
 cause to be otherwise." 
 
 In England, to return there, John Riving- 
 ton was still successfully fostering his father's 
 business. A quiet and sedate man, with 
 nothing of James's rashness and venture about 
 him, he is described by West as being stout 
 and well formed, particularly neat in his 
 person, of dignified and gentlemanly address, 
 going with gold-headed cane and nosegay 
 twice a day to service at St. Paul's as 
 befitted the great religious publisher of the 
 day, and living generally upon the most 
 friendly terms with the members of the 
 Episcopal Bench, and breakfasting every 
 
 12
 
 alternate Monday with Bishop Seeker at Cm-wen's 
 Lambeth. A kind master, too, for coming Booksellers. 
 back on the 3Oth of January, from service, 
 and finding his sons and clerks plodding at 
 the desk " Tous, sous, how is this ? I 
 always put my shutters up on this day." 
 
 In May 1743 he married a sister of Sir 
 Francis Gosling, 1 Banker and Alderman, 
 afterwards Lord Mayor, and as she brought 
 him a fortune and fourteen children, the 
 match may probably be considered a pros- 
 perous one. 
 
 Orthodox in his views, and true in busi- 
 ness to the professions he held out privately* 
 Wesley and Whitfield had to go elsewhere 
 for a publisher, although there must have 
 been plenty of temptation to incline the trade 
 to patronise Methodism, for Coote, in a 
 comedy of his, published in 1757, makes a 
 bookseller say : " I don't deal in the sermon 
 
 1 Signature of John Rivington in 1742 from the books of Messrs. 
 Goslings and Sharpe, Bankers, 19 Fleet Street.
 
 Curwen's way now ; I lost money by the last I printed, 
 
 ook7ellL for a11 ' twas b y a Methodist." But John 
 Rivington would have none of them, and in 
 1752 we find him publishing " The Mischiefs 
 of Enthusiasm and Bigotry : an Assize Sermon 
 by the Rev. R. Hurd;" and about 1760 he 
 was appointed publisher to the venerable 
 " Society for the Promotion of Christian 
 Knowledge " an office that remained in the 
 family for upwards of seventy years. Dissent 
 in itself was injurious enough to his interests, 
 but when Wilberforce and Hannah More 
 succeeded in making a portion of the Church 
 " Evangelical," upwards of half his customers 
 deserted to a rival shop in Piccadilly. 
 
 Some time before this he had admitted 
 his sons, Francis and Charles, into partner- 
 ship, and he was then appointed manager in 
 general of the works published by his clique 
 that is, of standard editions of Shakespeare, 
 Milton, Locke, and other British classics, and 
 of such religious works as were produced in 
 an expensive and bulky form ; and of these 
 works, two especially, Dr. Dodd's Commen- 
 tary and Cruden's Concordance, stand out so 
 14
 
 prominently that some slight account of their Curwen's 
 authors may not be unacceptable. Booksellers. 
 
 Samuel Richardson appears to have 
 entertained grateful remembrance of the 
 commission to write the " Familiar Letters to 
 and from several Persons upon Business and 
 other Subjects," for on his death he left a 
 mourning ring to James Rivington. 
 
 During Dodsley's illness, Rivington and 
 his sons managed the Annual Register, and 
 when on his death it was sold to Otridge 
 and others, they started an annual of their 
 own, which lasted till 1812, and then till 
 1820 was in abeyance, resumed again till 
 1823, and in the following year the two were 
 merged into one, and after being published 
 for a few years by the Baldwins, its manage- 
 ment returned again to their own hands. 
 Through the Register they were brought 
 into connection with Burke, and were sub- 
 sequently publishers of his more important 
 works. 
 
 At all times the Rivingtons took a very 
 great interest in the Stationers' Company ; 
 
 '5
 
 Curwen's this was especially the case with James, 
 w ^ serve ^ as master, and at the same 
 time he, his two brothers, and his four 
 sons were all members of the Livery. He 
 held many public appointments, was in com- 
 mission of the peace, a governor of most of 
 the Royal hospitals, and a director of the 
 " Amicable Society," and of the Union Fire 
 Office. 
 
 He died, universally regretted, on the 
 1 6th of February 1792, in his seventy-second 
 year, and was followed by his widow in the 
 succeeding October. 
 
 Owing to the split we have referred to 
 in his business, and to his uniform gener- 
 osity, the fortune he left behind him was 
 not large indeed, money - hoarding has 
 been an attribute of none of the Rivington 
 family. 
 
 His two elder sons, Francis and Charles, 
 carried on the business vigorously. Another 
 son, Robert, captain of the Kent East 
 Indiaman fell, gallantly defending his ship 
 in the Bay of Bengal, and was thus celebrated 
 
 in the Gentleman s Magazine : 
 16
 
 Curwen's 
 
 " His manly virtue mark'd the generous source, History of 
 
 And naval toil confirm'd the naval force ; Booksellers. 
 
 In fortune's adverse trial undismay'd, 
 A seaman's zeal and courage he display'd ; 
 For honour firmly stood, at honour's post, 
 And gain'd new glory when his life he lost ! " 1 
 
 A fourth son John, a printer in St. John's 
 Square, had died previously in 1785. 
 
 The first important event in the new pub- 
 lishing house was the establishment of the 
 British Critic ; in which Nares and Beloe 
 were conjoint partners with Francis and 
 Charles Rivington. The British Critic was 
 started in January 1 793, in monthly numbers 
 of two shillings each, and by the end of the 
 century attained a circulation of 3500. The 
 editorship was entrusted to Nares, and with 
 the assistance of Beloe it was conducted down 
 to the forty-second volume in 1813. William 
 Beloe was some time librarian of the British 
 Museum, but a stranger who had been ad- 
 mitted to the print-room, having abused his 
 confidence, and stolen some of the pictures, 
 the librarian was somewhat unjustly asked to 
 resign. Among the other contributors to the 
 
 * SeeJ\.ppendix. 
 
 17
 
 Curwen's British Critic were Dr. Parr of whom 
 Booksellers Christopher North says, not unfairly, " in his 
 character of a wit and an author one of the 
 most genuine feather-beds of humbug that 
 ever filled up a corner of the world " and 
 Whittaker, author of the History of Man- 
 chester. In 1813 the second series of the 
 Critic was commenced, under the editorship 
 of the Rev. W. R. Lyall, afterwards Dean 
 of Canterbury ; in 1825 the publication was 
 made quarterly, and a third series began, 
 which, however, only reached three volumes. 
 Of all the literary men connected with the 
 Rivingtons of this era, none were more use- 
 ful, and few deserve more grateful remem- 
 brance from posterity, than George Ayrscough 
 -facile princeps of index makers. Originally 
 a miller's labourer, he obtained a situation in 
 the Rivingtons' shop, and was afterwards 
 promoted to a clerkship in the British 
 Museum ; soon after his further rise to the 
 position of assistant librarian he took orders ; 
 but it is as a maker of catalogues and indexes 
 that he is still known ; and how great the 
 
 labour and patient skill needful in compiling 
 18
 
 the indexes to the Gentleman s Magazine, the Curwen's 
 Monthly Review, and the British Critic must 
 have been, all students can approximately 
 guess from the immensity of labour saved 
 individually by their use. 
 
 John, the eldest son of Francis, was ad- 
 mitted a partner in 1810, and in 1819 they 
 took a lease of No. 3 Waterloo Place ; and 
 so popular were they at the time that it is 
 said Sir James Allan Park, one of the judges, 
 came down to the new house before nine 
 o'clock on New Year's Day, that he might 
 enrol himself as their first customer. In 1820 
 they determined to start a branch house for 
 the sale of second-hand books and general 
 literature, and John Cochrane was placed at 
 the head of this establishment. He collected 
 one of the finest stocks ever gathered, and 
 published the best and most carefully compiled 
 catalogue that had then been issued, extending 
 to 815 pages, and enumerating 17,328 articles, 
 many of the rarest kind. The business, how- 
 ever, entailed considerable losses, and was 
 abandoned in 1827. 
 
 On 1 8th October 1822, Francis Rivington, 
 
 19
 
 Curwen's the senior partner, died, earning a character for 
 
 History of . . . . . - . , ' . 
 
 Booksellers, ni g n probity and sincere and unaffected piety. 
 Like his father he had been a governor in 
 many charitable institutions. " Such a man," 
 says the author of his obituary notice, " can- 
 not go unwept to the grave ; and the writer 
 of this article, after a friendly intercourse of 
 sixty years, is not ashamed to say that at this 
 moment his eyes are moister than his pen " 
 a quaint but sincere tribute. He had married 
 Miss M. Ellill, sister of an eminent lead 
 merchant, and four of his sons survived him. 
 In 1827 George and Francis, sons of 
 Charles, joined the firm; and in 1831, 
 Charles, the younger of the two original 
 brothers, was found dead on the floor of his 
 dressing-room. 1 In social life he was distin- 
 guished by the mildness and complacence of 
 his temper ; and his conversation was invari- 
 ably enlivened with anecdotes and memories 
 of the literary men and clergymen with whom 
 he had come in contact. 
 
 The firm now, therefore, consisted of John, 
 
 1 He died at his sister-in-law's, Mrs. Curling, King's Road, Chel- 
 sea, of an apoplectic stroke. [S. R.] 
 
 20
 
 the son of the elder, and Francis and George, Curwen's 
 two sons of the younger brother. 1 fook?eUL 
 
 We [know] . . . how marvellously religious 
 life was quickened at Oxford by the publica- 
 tion of Keble's Christian Year. This feeling, 
 intense in its inner nature as any of the 
 revivals, culminated or fulminated in the 
 publication of the Tracts for the Times the 
 most important work, perhaps, with which the 
 
 1 The following is a letter addressed to the Secretary of the 
 S.P.C.K. on the introduction of George and Francis Rivington as 
 booksellers to the Society by their father : 
 
 " DEAR SIR Allow me to trouble you with a line to state that a 
 heavy domestic affliction I have lately experienced will, I hope, 
 plead in my excuse for not waiting upon the gentlemen of the Com- 
 mittee to introduce my two sons, George and Francis Rivington, as 
 I had hoped to have done. 
 
 " But I beg to express on paper, however inadequately, my deep 
 sense of gratitude for the many favours I have received from the 
 Society, and particularly for the kindness of the Committee in 
 allowing me to transfer into more active hands the business of the 
 Society, and my hopes that the kindness and condescension which 
 has for a long period of time been extended to me, may be con- 
 tinued to them. 
 
 " It has pleased Providence to permit me to have seen seventy-five 
 years, and a relaxation from the cares of business may possibly be 
 the means of prolonging my existence for a short time ; but I am not 
 careful as to this, knowing that I am in the hands of a merciful 
 Providence, to whom I have through life been indebted for many 
 blessings, for which I cannot be too thankful. 
 
 " With sincere prayers for the prosperity of the Society, I beg to 
 remain, with respect and regard, dear sir, your obliged and obedient 
 servant, CHARLES RIVINGTON. 
 
 "January 1830." [S. R.] 
 
 21
 
 Curwen's Rivingtons have ever been connected ; and 
 Booksellers, worthy, therefore, of the scanty notice for 
 which we can afford space here. The 
 Tracts for the Times were commenced in 
 1833, at a time, according to the writers, 
 "when irreligious principles and false doctrines 
 had just been admitted into public measures 
 on a large scale . . . when the Irish sees 
 had been suppressed by the State against the 
 Church's wish. . . . They were written with 
 the hope of rousing members of the Church 
 to comprehend her alarming position of 
 helping them to realise the fact of the gradual 
 growth, allowance, and establishment of un- 
 sound principles in her internal concerns ; 
 and, having this object, they used spontane- 
 ously the language of alarm and complaint. 
 They were written as a man might give 
 notice of a fire or inundation, so as to startle 
 all who heard him " (vol. iii. p. 3). As far as 
 fulfilment of intention went in startling, the 
 writers were perfectly successful. Exhibiting 
 great talents, depth of thought, logical power, 
 acuteness of reasoning, and an undoubted 
 religious feeling, their effect was spontaneous. 
 
 22
 
 By one party, and an increasing one, the Curwen's 
 writers were welcomed with a reverend love 
 that almost forbade criticism, and by the 
 other with the greatest uneasiness and sus- 
 picion. The chief writers in the series, for 
 the Tracts continued to appear during the 
 space of several years, were Newman, Pusey, 
 Keble, and Williams. In Ireland the clergy 
 were anxious to come over in a body, and 
 greet them collectively. In Scotland, Pusey 
 and Newman were denounced at a public 
 dinner as enemies to the established religion ; 
 and at Oxford, where they were personally 
 loved and respected, they were looked upon 
 by a large portion of the members with pecu- 
 liar distrust. Parties in the Church were 
 formed, and claimed, or were christened after, 
 the names of the writers such were originally 
 the Puseyites and Newmaniacs. At length 
 the famous " Number 90" appeared, and was 
 thus greeted by the University : " Modes of 
 interpretation such as are suggested in this 
 tract, evading rather than explaining the sense 
 of the thirty-nine articles, and reconciling sub- 
 scription to them with the adoption of errors 
 
 23
 
 Curwen's which they were destined to counteract, 
 Booksellers defeat tne object, and are inconsistent with 
 the due observance of the above-mentioned 
 statement." . . . 
 
 The publication of these Tracts still 
 further strengthened the Rivingtons in their 
 position of High Church publishers, and 
 their business benefited considerably by the 
 great increase of the High Church party. 1 
 
 In 1827 a fourth series of the British 
 Critic was commenced, incorporated with 
 the Theological Review. In 1843, however, 
 in consequence of the extreme views that 
 
 1 The following is an extract from the late Dr. Liddon's Life of 
 Pusey, 1893, vol. i. pp. 423, 424, regarding the publication of the 
 Library of the Fathers : 
 
 ' ' The theory of translation being settled if it was settled the 
 financial difficulty presented itself. How could a long series of 
 authors, for whom there was as yet no demand, be published, 
 without involving translators and publishers in ruinous expenses ? 
 Pusey began the solution of the difficulty by taking it for granted 
 that, like himself, all the translators could or would do their work 
 for nothing. Newman soon saw that this was practically impos- 
 sible. At first he had said : 
 
 ' ' ' Somehow when I come to think of it, I should not like any- 
 thing to be said to R[ivington] which seemed to make our plan a 
 speculation. Men in business are ready enough to catch up the 
 idea that godliness is literally gain : and this would seem to be 
 laying apian for emolument.' 
 
 " But by 8th September he writes, ' I feel sure that the trans- 
 lators must be paid : it has grown on me.' 
 
 " But this was only half the difficulty. Would the Fathers sell 
 
 24
 
 had been expressed in its pages, the publica- Curwen's 
 tion was discontinued, to the very great 
 regret of the clergy ; the English Review, 
 which started from its ashes, met with but 
 little support, and lasted only till 1853. 
 
 'To complete our personal account of the 
 firm : John Rivington, who married Anne, 
 daughter of the Rev. John Blackburn, Canon 
 of York, died 2ist November 1841, at the 
 age of 62. His son John was admitted a 
 partner in 1836, and is the present head of 
 the firm. George Rivington died in 1842, 
 having retired on account of ill health in 
 1837, and in 1859 Mr. Francis Rivington 
 retired from active partnership. The present 
 representatives * of the firm consist, therefore, 
 
 even if translated? Messrs. Rivingtons evidently thought this 
 doubtful ; they positively declined to undertake the publication 
 unless a body of subscribers would back them up. Thereupon Pusey 
 offered them to risk ^1000, and inquired what the expense of four 
 volumes a year for four years would be, it being understood that the 
 translators should be paid. Messrs. Rivingtons ' took no notice ' 
 of the offer, but continued to insist upon the list of subscribers. At 
 last Pusey and Newman gave way. 
 
 " ' As we have agreed about the subscription,' writes Pusey to 
 Newman, I3th October, ' I sent the amended prospectus to 
 Rivington yesterday. ... I think it [viz. the plan of a subscrip- 
 tion list] will be good ; because we both disliked it, and yet are 
 come into it.' " [S. R.] 
 
 1 I.e. in 1873, when Curwen's History was published. [S. R.] 
 
 2 5
 
 Curwen's of Mr. John Rivington, fifth in descent from 
 Booksellers. ^ e founder, and Mr. Francis Hansard 
 Rivington, who is the sixth. 
 
 In 1853 the firm removed their place of 
 business from the ancient house in St. Paul's 
 Churchyard, and consolidated it at 3 Waterloo 
 Place, retaining nothing but some warehouses 
 in Paternoster Row. In 1862, after an in- 
 terval of thirty years, they re-acquired the 
 agency of the Cambridge " Press " a famous 
 manufactory of Bibles, Prayer Books, and 
 Church Services ; and in the next year, 1863, 
 they opened branch houses at both Oxford 
 and Cambridge an extension of business 
 that, after a long life of 160 years, says 
 something for the vitality of the firm. 1 
 
 1 End of extract from Curwen's History of Booksellers. 
 
 TAILPIECE TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF CAMBRAY'S 
 
 PASTORAL LETTER, 1715. See opposite p. 2.
 
 The three branch houses above referred 
 to were closed a few years afterwards in 
 order that the firm should have time to con- 
 centrate their energies on their increasing 
 publishing business at 3 Waterloo Place, 
 Pall Mall. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. John Rivington retired, and 
 in 1867 Mr. Septimus Rivington, the seventh 
 son of Mr. Francis Rivington, was admitted 
 as a partner, with his eldest brother, Mr. 
 Francis Hansard Rivington. Mr. John 
 Rivington died at Babbacombe, Devonshire, 
 in 1886, aged 74, leaving a widow, and one 
 son and three daughters by his first wife. 1 
 
 FRANCIS RIVINGTON 
 
 b. 1745 5 & l822 
 
 Francis Rivington died, says Mr. Bowyer Francis 
 Nichols in his Literary Illustrations, vol. Rivin s ton - 
 viii. p. 497, at Islington, where he had long 
 
 1 [S. R.] 
 D 27
 
 Francis resided, on i8th October 1822. " His probity, 
 his piety, and hilarity of disposition, endeared 
 him to all who knew him. He was a Gover- 
 nor of the Royal Hospital (Christ's), a 
 Director of the Union Fire Office, supporter 
 01 many charitable institutions. In 1805 he 
 served the office of Master of the Company 
 of Stationers. He was buried in the ceme- 
 tery of All Faith's, adjoining the Cathedral 
 of St. Paul's." 
 
 CHARLES RIVINGTON l 
 
 b. 1754 ; d. 1831 
 
 Charles The following brief memoir, written by 
 
 Rivington. Mr Alexander Chalmers, compiler of the 
 
 Biographical Dictionary, etc., appeared in 
 the Gentleman s Magazine, June 1881 : 
 
 " Died 26th May, in his 77th year, Charles 
 Rivington, Esq., of Waterloo Place and 
 Brunswick Square, the senior member of 
 the respectable firm of Messrs. Rivingtons, 
 
 1 For his portrait see opposite titlepage, and for extracts from 
 his Journal see Appendix. 
 28
 
 booksellers, of St. Paul's Churchyard and Charles 
 Waterloo Place. 
 
 He was one of the sons of John Riving- 
 ton, Esq., who carried on considerable busi- 
 ness as a bookseller in St. Paul's Churchyard, 
 for more than half a century, where he died 
 1 6th January 1792. He was succeeded in 
 business by his sons, Messrs. Francis and 
 Charles Rivington. Mr. Francis Rivington 
 died i8th October 1822, aged 77 (see character 
 of him in our Vol. XCII. ii. p. 375), leaving his 
 eldest son, Mr. John Rivington, as his repre- 
 sentative in the firm. The various members 
 of the house of Rivington have now, we 
 believe, for upwards of a century continued 
 booksellers to the Society for Promoting 
 Christian Knowledge, and been uniformly 
 patronised by the Episcopal Bench, and the 
 higher order of the clergy ; innumerable, 
 therefore, are the valuable works on theology 
 and ecclesiastical affairs that have been pub- 
 lished at their expense, or under their 
 auspices. The family of Charles Rivington 
 have also been always much connected with 
 
 the Company of Stationers. At one time his 
 
 29
 
 Charles father, two uncles, and three brothers, were, 
 with himself, Liverymen of the Company. 
 His youngest brother, Henry Rivington, 
 Esq., died Clerk of the Company, Qth June 
 1829, when he was succeeded in that office 
 by Mr. Charles Rivington, a son of Mr. 
 Charles Rivington. His father served the 
 office of Master of the Company in 1775, 
 his brother Francis in 1805, and he himself 
 in 1819. He had previously assiduously 
 served the Company for many years in the 
 arduous office of one of the Stock-keepers. 
 He has left a nephew and four sons George, 
 Francis, Charles, and William Liverymen 
 of the Company, and four daughters. His 
 death was awfully sudden, but his friends 
 have the satisfaction of believing he was 
 always prepared. He was on the point of 
 removal from his residence in Waterloo 
 Place to a house he had taken in Brunswick 
 Square, and in the interval had accepted the 
 invitation of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Curling, 
 to sleep at her house in the King's Road. 
 As he did not come down to breakfast, 
 one of his nephews entered his bedroom, 
 3
 
 and found him on the floor quite dead. It Charles 
 is supposed that he died whilst dressing 
 himself. 
 
 The character of Mr. Rivington, through 
 a long and very active life, has left the 
 warmest sentiments of regret among his 
 numerous friends and connections. This of 
 course has been felt with most poignancy by 
 his family, to whom he was a most affection- 
 ate parent. It was invariably his object to 
 exhibit an example of strict moral conduct, 
 founded on the soundest religious principles ; 
 and he had the happiness to the very last, 
 and without a single exception, the salutary 
 influences of a mode of domestic education, 
 too much neglected in the present day, and 
 too much interrupted by the love of pleasure, 
 and the infatuation which inclines the young 
 to seek comfort everywhere but at home. 
 It might perhaps appear rather personal to 
 advert to the happy effects of Mr. Rivington's 
 affectionate temper and paternal care on a 
 numerous family, the conduct of all of whom 
 formed the great consolation of his life ; 
 especially when, a few years ago, he had the 
 
 31
 
 Charles misfortune to lose the mother who had so 
 long, with a corresponding attachment, borne 
 her share in domestic education. It may be 
 sufficient to add that the harmony which 
 prevailed in his family, and the united affec- 
 tions of his sons and daughters, were the 
 admiration of every visitor at his hospitable 
 table. In social life Mr. Rivington was 
 equally distinguished for mildness and com- 
 posure of temper, and his conversation was 
 enlivened by the memory of literary history 
 and anecdote, improved by his long continu- 
 ance in business, and friendly intercourse 
 with men of learning, and in particular with 
 many of the highest ornaments of our 
 Church." 
 
 FRANCIS RIVINGTON 
 
 b. 1806; d. 1885 
 
 Francis In 1885 Mr. Francis Rivington, who had 
 
 Rivington. retired in l857) anc j was t h e father of the 
 
 two partners, Francis Hansard and Septi- 
 mus, in the business since 1867, died at the 
 age of 79. The following obituary notice 
 32
 
 59.
 
 appeared in the Publishers Circular of i5th Francis 
 
 T oo- Rivington. 
 
 January 1885 : 
 
 "We regret to announce the death of 
 Francis Rivington, who was born iQth 
 January 1805, and, after being educated partly 
 at Bremen, in Germany, was admitted into 
 the publishing firm of Rivingtons of St. 
 Paul's Churchyard and Waterloo Place in 
 the year 1827. His name was especially 
 connected with the publication of the Tracts 
 for the Times and Newman's Parochial 
 Sermons, as well as with many of the most 
 eminent theological works of that time. Mr. 
 Thomas Mozley, in his Recollections, men- 
 tions Mr. Francis Rivington's name in con- 
 nection with the British Critic, noticing, in 
 a chapter devoted to the account of a dinner- 
 party at Mr. Rivington's, the self-repression 
 and equanimity with which he accepted the 
 idea of discontinuing that profitable periodi- 
 cal. In Mr. James Mozley 's Letters the same 
 subject is touched upon in a characteristic 
 letter, in which Mr. Mozley says : ' I called 
 on Rivington the other day ; he was very 
 civil, even communicative on the subject of 
 
 33
 
 Francis the British Critic ; seemed less alarmed at 
 the whole state of things than I expected ; 
 inclined to keep up British Critic on its 
 hitherto footing,' etc. We believe the real 
 history of the discontinuance of that periodi- 
 cal, which created so much stir at the time, 
 to have been that, besides other reasons, the 
 Bishop of London (Bishop Blomfield) brought 
 some pressure to bear upon Mr. Rivington 
 to induce him to discontinue this periodical 
 and all the numerous profitable publications 
 emanating from the Tractarian party, and 
 that Mr. Rivington so far yielded to the 
 Bishop as to withdraw the British Critic. 
 It was in reference to this desire of the 
 Bishop's that the following words are said 
 to have been used. When the Archdeacon 
 of London pleaded that the discontinuance 
 of such publications would ruin the firm, 
 constituting, as they did, the chief business, 
 and the firm was such an old one, the Bishop 
 replied, ' Old ! yes ; old enough to be dead ! ' 
 The firm, however, has not died, in spite of 
 its age, exceeding that of any other publish- 
 ing or commercial house in London. Mr, 
 34
 
 Francis Rivington retired from it in 1859, Francis 
 and devoted his time to his favourite occupa- mn & t01 
 tions of study and painting. Like Dr. John- 
 son, he was in the habit of reading Law's 
 Serious Call again and again, considering its 
 purity of diction unsurpassed by any book 
 of its kind, and when travelling, Pascal's 
 Thoughts were for many years his chief 
 favourite. He wrote several pamphlets on 
 various subjects, and was the author of a 
 Life of Saint Paul, and editor of a new 
 edition of Dean Sherlock's Practical Treatise 
 on Death. He was twice married, and had 
 a numerous family, most of whom have sur- 
 vived him. For the last few years of his 
 life he resided at Eastbourne, where he died 
 after a few days' illness on 7th January, 
 almost at the completion of his eightieth 
 year. He was buried on i2th January at 
 Highgate Cemetery in his family grave, the 
 service being performed by his nephew, 
 the Rev. Thurston Rivington, Vicar of St. 
 Nicholas, Warwick, assisted by the Rev. J. 
 Alfred Rivington, son of Mr. John Rivington, 
 formerly his partner in the publishing firm." 
 
 35
 
 II 
 
 The f\^ 6th June 1890, the following appeared 
 
 Bookseller. V J . ^-,7 n 7 /7 
 
 in 1 he Bookseller : 
 
 IMPORTANT AMALGAMATION 
 
 The most important amalgamation that 
 has occurred in the trade since Messrs. 
 Longmans and Company took over the busi- 
 ness of John W. Parker, Son, and Bourn in 
 1863 nas j ust been announced. Messrs. 
 Longmans have now arranged to purchase 
 the business of Messrs. Rivingtons, of 
 Waterloo Place, and thus the two oldest 
 houses in the trade are about to coalesce. 
 Mr. Francis Hansard Rivington, sole pro- 
 prietor l of the business, retires as from the 
 ist July, and from that date all books now 
 
 1 Since May 1889, when Mr. Septimus Rivington dissolved 
 partnership with his brother. [S. R.] 
 
 36
 
 published by Messrs. Rivington will be sup- The 
 plied by Messrs. Longmans and Company. 
 
 The following account of the house of 
 Rivington first appeared in The Bookseller 
 more than thirty years ago, and as it will 
 probably interest a generation of readers 
 who have grown up since it was originally 
 published, we have reprinted it, with some 
 slight alterations and additions : 
 
 "One of the last lingerers of London 
 signs was that of the ' Bible and Crown ' in 
 St. Paul's Churchyard, or rather in Pater- 
 noster Row. It was originally put up in 
 1711 as the new sign of the house in which 
 Richard Chiswell, who was styled by Dunton 
 the ' Metropolitan of Booksellers,' so many 
 years carried on business. On his death, in 
 1711, the business passed into the hands of 
 the first of a family of booksellers, whose 
 name is familiar to every reader of religious 
 books wherever the English language is 
 spoken Charles Rivington, who succeeded 
 Chiswell. He was born at Chesterfield, 
 Derbyshire, towards the close of the seven- 
 teenth century, and in early life evinced such 
 
 37
 
 The a taste for the perusal of religious books that 
 
 his friends determined to send him to Lon- 
 don, that he might become a theological 
 bookseller. He was apprenticed to a Mr. 
 Matthews, and in 1711 acquired the freedom 
 of the City, and carried on a flourishing 
 business in St. Paul's Churchyard until his 
 death in 1742. Unlike too many of the 
 profession in the present day, Mr. Rivington 
 was devotedly attached to his business, and 
 appears to have been desirous of making it 
 serve the best interests of the time in which 
 he lived by producing many excellent manuals 
 of devotion, and similar practical works. 
 Amongst others he published an edition of 
 Thomas a Kempis's Imitation of Christ, edited 
 by his friend the well-known John Wesley, 
 then a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. 
 In 1739 he suggested to another friend, 
 Samuel Richardson, the composition of that 
 novel which so delighted our mothers, our 
 grandmothers, and our great -grandmothers 
 Pamela. This was successfully brought 
 out under his auspices. He married Eleanor 
 Pease, a native of the county of Durham, by 
 38
 
 whom he had six children. He died in The 
 1742, and Mr. Richardson acted as one of Bookseller - 
 his executors. He was succeeded in the 
 business by his sons John and James, who 
 jointly carried it on for several years, when 
 they separated John remaining in the old 
 place, while James joined a Mr. Fletcher 
 and commenced another business, also in St. 
 Paul's Churchyard, where he remained some 
 time and carried on a successful trade. 
 Amongst other works he brought out a 
 History of England, by Smollett, first in 
 numbers, which made four quarto volumes, 
 and then another edition in seven volumes 
 octavo. By this work alone he cleared no 
 less than ; 10,000 a larger sum than had 
 ever before been made by any one book. 
 
 "We find John Rivington 1 carrying on 
 
 1 John Rivington, brother of Francis and Charles (son of the 
 above-mentioned John Rivington), became a printer in St. John's 
 Square, and was succeeded by his widow, Ann Rivington. The 
 business has been since carried on by Bye and Law, Law and 
 Gilbert, and Gilbert and Rivington, and is now a limited company 
 under the same name ; but no member of the family has taken an 
 active part in it for some years. [S. R.] 
 
 39
 
 The the old business alone till 17 , when he 
 
 admitted his two sons, Francis and Charles, 
 into partnership. Besides the numerous theo- 
 logical publications issued by him, he was 
 appointed managing partner by the pro- 
 prietors of the standard editions of Shake- 
 speare, Milton, Locke, and other British 
 classics ; and on the death of Mr. Moore, 
 about the year 1 760, obtained the appointment 
 of publisher to the venerable Society for 
 Promoting Christian Knowledge an office 
 which remained in the family for upwards of 
 seventy years. During the illness of Dodsley, 
 the original publisher, Messrs. Rivington 
 managed the Annual Register ; and when, 
 on the death of Dodsley, that was sold to 
 Otridge and others, in 1791, Messrs. Riving- 
 ton started one of their own as a continua- 
 tion of Dodsley's. This was carried on till 
 1812, when it was discontinued, but again 
 resumed in 1820, and its publication carried 
 on till the year 1823. In the following 
 year the two, by an arrangement, merged 
 into one, which was published by Baldwins 
 
 for some time, and is now published by 
 40
 
 Rivingtons. Through this work they be- The 
 came connected with that brilliant writer 
 and eminent statesman, Edmund Burke, 
 who had been a frequent contributor to its 
 pages, and he made them his publishers. 1 
 Mr. John Rivington appears to have been 
 very dissimilar from his brother James in his 
 tastes, becoming more and more like his 
 father as he advanced in life ; he attended 
 the early morning and the afternoon services 
 daily in St. Paul's Cathedral, and lived upon 
 the most friendly terms with many members 
 of the Episcopal Bench, and was accustomed 
 to repair every alternate Monday to break- 
 fast with Archbishop Seeker at Lambeth. 
 In May 1743 he married Elizabeth Miller 
 Gosling, sister of Sir Francis Gosling, alder- 
 man and banker, one of the ancestors of the 
 present firm of Gosling, of Fleet Street 
 by her he had fifteen children. He died 
 1 6th February 1793, at the age of 72. 
 In 1775 he was Master of the Stationers' 
 
 1 An edition of Burke's Works, forming eight volumes, 8vo, 
 was published by Rivingtons in 1853, most carefully edited by the 
 late Mr. Francis Rivington, and was then the only quite complete 
 edition. 
 
 41
 
 The Company, of which at one time his two 
 
 brothers and his four sons, with himself, 
 were Liverymen. At the time of his death 
 he was in the commission of the peace, was 
 a member of the Common Council, director 
 of the Amicable Society, and of the Union 
 Fire Office, and a governor of the Royal 
 hospitals. He left a very moderate fortune, 
 as indeed have most other members of the 
 house money - making being one of the 
 parts of their business that was never very 
 zealously pursued. 
 
 "After Mr. John Rivington's decease the 
 business was vigorously carried on by his 
 two sons, Francis and Charles, who in 
 January 1793 commenced the celebrated 
 British Critic, which soon attained an ex- 
 traordinary popularity. It was published 
 monthly at 23., and before the end of the 
 century had attained a circulation of 3500. 
 The other partners in this undertaking were 
 the Ven. Archdeacon Nares, who was editor, 
 and the Rev. W. Beloe, the translator of 
 Herodotus. Nares edited the whole of the 
 
 first series, in forty -two volumes, down to 
 
 42
 
 1813. The second series, also monthly, was The 
 edited by the Rev. W. R. Lyall, afterwards Booksdler - 
 Dean of Canterbury ; in 1825 the publication 
 was made quarterly, and a third series com- 
 menced, which, however, only reached three 
 volumes, when a fourth series, incorporating 
 the Quarterly Theological Review, was com- 
 menced in 1827, and continued under several 
 successive editorships until December 1843, 
 when, in consequence of the Rev. Mr. 
 Mozley, now editor of the Times, admitting 
 articles advocating extreme views, the work 
 was discontinued, much to the regret of the 
 clergy generally. In April 1844 a new work 
 sprang from the ashes of the old one. The 
 English Review, edited by the Rev. Wm. 
 Palmer, was commenced. It never attained 
 the popularity of the British Critic, but 
 struggled on for several years, and was 
 finally given up in 1853, and for the first 
 time in sixty years the house was without 
 any periodical of its own. 
 
 "John, the eldest son of Mr. Francis, was 
 admitted a partner in 1810, and nothing 
 particular occurs to notice till 1819, when a 
 E 43
 
 The determination was come to, to open a West 
 
 End branch. They had long been urged 
 to take this step by several of their most 
 influential friends, and on the completion of 
 the new street opening into Pall Mall, they 
 took a lease of the premises No. 3 Waterloo 
 Place, of which they became the first tenants. 
 Sir James Allan Park, one of the judges, 
 hurried to the house before nine o'clock on 
 New Year's Day, in order to enrol himself as 
 the first customer of this new fountain of 
 orthodoxy. In the following year a proposi- 
 tion was made by the late Mr. John Cochran, 
 a former partner in the house of Ogle, 
 Duncan and Cochran, to establish another 
 house of business in second-hand books and 
 general standard literature, in which he was 
 to be managing partner. In an evil hour 
 this was assented to, a large sum was placed 
 at Cochran's disposal, and premises taken at 
 148 Strand, near Somerset House. Cochran 
 set to work and secured one of the most 
 splendid stocks ever got together ; but he 
 bought injudiciously, and frequently at very 
 high prices, either in rivalry with Thorpe and 
 44
 
 others, or from the desire to possess the The 
 monopoly of particular books : one in par- 
 ticular, Walton's Polyglott Bible, he had a 
 sort of mania for, and at one time had no 
 fewer than five copies in stock. A catalogue 
 of this splendid collection was issued in 1824. 
 It is one of the best and most carefully-com- 
 piled volumes of the kind ever issued in this 
 country, and extends to 815 pages, enume- 
 rating 17,328 articles, many of them of the 
 rarest and most valuable kind. Finding 
 themselves considerable losers by this busi- 
 ness, it was given up in 1827, and the stock 
 disposed of. 
 
 " Mr. Francis Rivington died at his house 
 at Islington, i8th October 1822, having 
 reached the age of 77. He married Miss 
 Margaret Ellill, sister of an eminent lead 
 merchant ; by her he had six children, four 
 of whom survived him. In 1827, George 
 and Francis, two sons of Mr. Charles, joined 
 the firm; the former retired in 1842, in 
 consequence of ill-health, and died in 1857 
 at the age of 55. He married Miss Jane 
 Findlay, niece of Mr. Thomas Gardiner, of 
 
 45
 
 The the firm of Bowles and Gardiner, wholesale 
 
 stationers. Two years after the death of his 
 youngest brother, Henry, who was at that 
 time Clerk of the Stationers' Company, Mr. 
 Charles Rivington died, 26th May 1831, 
 aged 76. He married Jane, daughter of 
 Daniel Curling, Esq., of Her Majesty's 
 Customs, by whom he had twelve children, 
 nine of whom survived him. Francis, above- 
 mentioned, only retired from the firm in July 
 1859, and for some years led a not altogether 
 inactive life, amusing himself chiefly in re- 
 ligious matters ; he compiled or edited some 
 small theological works, and died, aged 79, in 
 1885. William, a younger son, joined the 
 printing business in St. John's Square, from 
 which he retired in 1867. This gave him 
 the leisure he needed for attending to nume- 
 rous philanthropic schemes. After an active 
 life he died in 1888. 
 
 "In consequence of the gradual but increas- 
 ing movement of their literary connections 
 towards the western districts of the Metropolis, 
 the firm in 1853 removed their ancient place 
 
 of business from St. Paul's Churchyard and 
 46
 
 consolidated it under one roof at 3 Water- The 
 loo Place, where it has since been carried se e * 
 on." 
 
 After his cousin Francis's retirement the 
 head of the house was Mr. John, who became 
 a partner in 1836. He was the only child of 
 John, by Anna, daughter of the Rev. John 
 Blackburn, Canon of York. John (senior) 
 died at Sydenham, 2ist November 1841, 
 aged 62. His son John, after continuing 
 head of the house till 1887, then retired in 
 favour of Mr. Francis Hansard Rivington, 
 who, with his brother Septimus, continued 
 the business till 1889, when his connection 
 with the firm was dissolved, and he joined in 
 the foundation of the business carried on 
 under the style of Percival and Co. at 34 
 King Street, Covent Garden. As already 
 announced, Mr. Francis Hansard Rivington 
 is now about to retire, and the business 
 will be amalgamated with that of Messrs. 
 Longmans. 
 
 When, in December 1859, the above 
 notice of this house first appeared in the 
 pages of The Bookseller, it concluded with 
 
 47
 
 The the following paragraph : " The present 
 
 firm consists of John, the fifth in direct 
 descent from the founder, and Francis Han- 
 sard, who is the sixth. And as the business 
 is still in a most flourishing condition, we 
 may hope that a future number of The 
 Bookseller will chronicle the names of six 
 more generations of Rivingtons. We have 
 said that the house has never been famous 
 for making money, but it is famous for one 
 thing that is of more value its good name, 
 for uprightness in all the transactions in 
 which it has been engaged, a correctness 
 that has ever been exercised by every suc- 
 cessive generation, even when the carrying 
 of it out has been to their own detriment." 
 And we now add that we pen this notice with 
 very great regret. Houses so nearly two 
 centuries old -are not plentiful. We trust 
 that Mr. Francis Hansard Rivington, now 
 relieved from the cares of a business in 
 which he has been actively engaged for 
 thirty-nine years, may live to enjoy many 
 more years of peaceful retirement he may 
 
 be assured that he carries with him the 
 48
 
 good wishes of all with whom he was ac- The 
 
 . j i Bookseller. 
 
 quamted. 
 
 Mr. Septimus Rivington in May 1889 
 arranged for the dissolution of his partnership 
 with his eldest brother, Mr. Francis Hansard 
 Rivington, in consequence of the attitude 
 assumed by the latter, and agreed, as a 
 compromise on debated matters, not to use 
 his name for the remaining four years of their 
 partnership which he gave up. 2 
 
 The following from the Athenczum of ist The 
 July 1893, is one among many other similar * en(eum - 
 notices from newspapers of that date : 
 
 "The old name of Rivington, one of the 
 oldest in the trade, will reappear on titlepages 
 to-day. Not very long ago Mr. [F. H.] 
 Rivington sold his historic business to Messrs. 
 Longmans, and in 1891 Mr. W. J. Rivington 
 retired from the firm of Sampson Low and 
 Co. Since then the name has been unrepre- 
 sented among our publishing houses. In 
 November 1889 Mr. S. Rivington, having 
 
 1 End of extract from The Bookseller. 2 [S. R.] 
 
 49
 
 The 
 Athenaum. 
 
 The 
 
 Publisher? 
 
 Circular. 
 
 agreed not to use his own name for four years, 
 formed with a son of Dr. Percival of Rugby, 
 the firm of Percival and Company, who have 
 been prolific publishers since they began 
 business. To-day Messrs. Percival and Co. 
 become Messrs. Rivington, Percival and Co. 
 Mr. S. Rivington was a partner for twenty- 
 two years in the house in Waterloo Place, 
 and retired from it in 1889." 
 
 The following more extended notice is from 
 the Publishers Circular of ist July 1893 : 
 
 " The name of Rivington has existed con- 
 tinuously in the publishing trade for 182 
 years, with the exception of the last year and 
 a half; and during that time a member of the 
 family, in the person of Mr. S. Rivington, 
 has been head of the publishing house of 
 Percival and Company, so that for more than 
 a century and three-quarters the same family 
 have been engaged in the same line of business. 
 
 The firm of Messrs. Percival and Company, 
 
 publishers, 34 King Street, Covent Garden, 
 
 London, becomes on ist July, Rivington, 
 
 Percival and Company. The partners are 
 
 50
 
 Mr. Septimus Rivington, of Trinity College, The 
 
 .- c , r c Publishers' 
 
 Oxford, a partner for twenty-two years, from circular. 
 1867 to 1889, in the late firm of Messrs. Riv- 
 ington, 3 Waterloo Place, London, and Mr. 
 John Guthrie Percival, of Magdalen College, 
 Oxford, a son of the Rev. Dr. Percival, Head 
 Master of Rugby School. 
 
 In 1887 Mr. Septimus Rivington suffered 
 from an acute attack of illness, and this 
 finally led to the disruption 1 of the firm of 
 Rivington and Co. In November 1889 
 Mr. S. Rivington formed, with his partner, 
 the firm of Percival and Co., which now 
 becomes Rivington, Percival and Co. Mr. 
 Rivington has been under an engagement, 
 until the present time, not to allow his name 
 to appear in any firm of publishers. 
 
 Mr. Septimus Rivington is the seventh 
 and youngest son of the late Mr. Francis 
 Rivington, and was educated at Tonbridge 
 School ; from there he took an exhibition to 
 Trinity College, Oxford. He was destined 
 for the Bar and kept some of his terms as a 
 student at the Inner Temple ; but, on the 
 
 1 In May 1889. 
 
 51
 
 The retirement in 1867 from the family firm, of 
 
 his cousin, Mr. John Rivington, he accepted 
 the offer of a partnership. At that time the 
 firm of Rivingtons had very few educational 
 works except the time-honoured ones of 
 Kerchever Arnold. Mr. S. Rivington set 
 himself to work to increase the educational 
 side, this being considered the most natural 
 class of publishing business that could be 
 successfully conducted alongside of the High 
 Church theological connection of the firm. 
 The result was the publication by the firm 
 of such well-known educational works as 
 Messrs. Abbott and Mansfield's Greek Gram- 
 mar, Mr. Arthur Sidgwick's books on Greek 
 Prose Composition and his Scenes from 
 Greek Plays, Mr. F. D. Morice's Stories 
 from Attic Greek, Dr. Franck Bright's 
 Periods of English History, and Dean 
 Bradley's revised edition of Arnolds Latin 
 Prose Composition. It was also owing to 
 Mr. S. Rivington's suggestion that the firm 
 issued the first volumes of sermons published 
 by Dr. Paget, the present Dean of Christ 
 Church, and by Canon Scott Holland, as well 
 52
 
 as the later volumes of sermons published by The 
 Dr. Liddon during his lifetime. Mr. Riving- 
 ton is himself an author of a History of 
 Tonbridge School. 
 
 Mr. S. Rivington has had an unusually 
 varied experience in the trade, having taken 
 an active part as a partner in the manage- 
 ment of retail businesses at 3 Waterloo Place, 
 London, at Oxford and at Cambridge, of a 
 wholesale Bible business in Stationers' Hall 
 Court, and of a share of the publishing depart- 
 ment of the firm. 
 
 The firm of Messrs. Rivington, Percival 
 and Co. have turned their attention, in 
 the educational line, to improving the text- 
 books and methods for teaching French, Eng- 
 lish, German, and Latin. Their Educational 
 List contains the names of the Head Masters 
 of such schools as Harrow, Rugby, Clifton, 
 Haileybury, Wellington College, Tonbridge, 
 etc. ; besides those of Professor Pelham, Pro- 
 fessor Ransome, Professor Campbell, Dr. 
 Evelyn Abbott, Mr. Arthur Sidgwick, Rev. F. 
 D. Morice, Mr. E. D. Mansfield, etc. The 
 circulation of their educational works alone 
 
 53
 
 The during 1892 was considerably over 100,000 
 
 Publishers' . r , . , , 
 
 Circular. volumes, or which more than 71,000 were 
 published at net prices. They also have an 
 increasing list of publications in theology and 
 general literature as well as a medical con- 
 nection. 
 
 We are glad to learn that Mr. S. Rivington 
 has two sons, now at Harrow and Rugby 
 Schools, destined for the business, so that the 
 continuity of the name in the business should 
 be thus provided for." 
 
 TAILPIECE TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF CAMBRAY'S 
 PASTORAL LETTER, 1715. See Opposite p. 2. 
 
 54
 
 APPENDIX
 
 EXTRACTS FROM 
 CHARLES RIVINGTON'S 1 JOURNAL, 
 
 Found among his papers after his decease. 
 
 JOURNAL OF OCCURRENCES IN MY OWN LIFE 
 
 Sept. 5, 1778. I set off this morning for Charles 
 
 Margate, intending to spend three weeks there. R ' v ington's 
 
 r u n.u j Journal. 
 
 I was there sixteen years ago for my health, and 
 
 staid five months. I was then about eight years 
 old. My uncle Robert Gosling's, Mr. Cawne's, 
 Mr. F. Gosling's families being there, would, I 
 thought, make my jaunt very agreeable, and my 
 sister being with my Aunt Gosling was another 
 inducement. I had never been at any watering- 
 place, and therefore if I did not meet with enter- 
 tainment, I thought I should at least find novelty. 
 I went in the diligence from the Cross Keys in 
 Wood Street. We set off at six in the morning. 
 ., l See page 28. 
 
 57
 
 Charles 
 
 Rivington's 
 
 Journal. 
 
 My fellow-travellers were both gentlemen one of 
 them a large man who is or was captain of one 
 of the Margate hoys, an elderly man, and well 
 known in almost every town we went through. 
 The other gentleman was not much larger than 
 myself, and rather an entertaining companion. I 
 found he was a sugar-baker in or near White- 
 chapel. The man who drove us to Rochester 
 was lazy, and made a tedious journey of it. The 
 inns at Dartford and Rochester were filled with 
 people going to the camp at Coxheath. The 
 road is very pleasant ; we had a fine view of the 
 river. I wished to have seen more vessels upon 
 it, as there were not above three or four that I 
 could distinguish. The hills are rather tiresome, 
 but they afford a pleasing variety of prospect. 
 We had walked up Shooter's Hill, and had a fine 
 view. From Boston Hill too we had a fine 
 prospect. We got into Margate soon after eight, 
 and I went to my uncle's immediately. 
 
 Sunday \ Sept. 6. Rose about seven ; walked 
 to Mr. Cawne's, and inquired of his servant for a 
 hairdresser. I was surprised to find the place so 
 large, and to see so many new buildings. Mr. 
 Cawne's house is in Church Fields, where there is 
 a row of houses, which has been built within 
 these few years. The Public Rooms are at the 
 end of the row, and adjoining to them is a hand- 
 58
 
 some square, called from the name of the person Charles 
 
 who built it, Cecil Square. The situation of the Rivin s; n>s 
 
 Journal, 
 houses in Church Field is very pleasant, having a 
 
 fine open prospect in front, and at high water a 
 side view of the sea. 
 
 Sept, 8. Took a ride on horseback in the 
 afternoon with my cousin William l to see a race 
 at Mount Pleasant ; this is a beautiful spot, com- 
 manding a fine view of the sea. We saw the 
 cliffs of Calais very plain. There were three 
 horses started, the first heat one of them was 
 distanced, and the second was won by the horse 
 who had won the first, which consequently con- 
 cluded the race. There were several gentlemen's 
 carriages there, and whiskeys, and, as if there was 
 not a carriage unhired, one of the bathing- 
 machines was drawn there by two horses. All 
 the young Margate bucks were there, riding 
 about the course on their steeds, and some shabby 
 fellows. We got home before dark, to the great 
 satisfaction of my aunt, who was anxious for the 
 safety of her son. 
 
 Sept. 28. Rose between four and five in 
 order to go to town by the diligence. It called 
 
 1 Afterwards head of the firm of Messrs. Goslings and Sharpe, 
 bankers, Fleet Street. 
 
 * 59
 
 Charles upon me before five ; it was not light, but in 
 
 Eton's a b ou t an h our t he ^ay began to appear. My 
 fellow-travellers were a lady and a youth with 
 her, neither of them larger than myself, which 
 was very agreeable. The lady is a Mrs. Wilkin- 
 son, a milliner in Tavistock Street, very convers- 
 able ; we talked over the diversions of Margate, 
 and were very sociable. The name of the youth 
 I do not remember. I never travelled on a more 
 pleasant day for the time of year, nor upon a 
 more pleasant road. The rain that had fallen on 
 Saturday had laid the dust, the sky was clear, 
 and the sun warmed us agreeably with his rays. 
 The hills afforded us delightful prospects, and a 
 number of ships which we continually saw sailing 
 for London presented us with beautiful views. I 
 should have enjoyed the circumstances more had 
 I been going out from, instead of returning to, 
 home. For I freely own I could not leave 
 Margate without regret. It was dark or dusk 
 before we got to Blackheath. We were under 
 some apprehension of being stopped, and saw 
 several horsemen who, we thought, looked like 
 highwaymen. But we got to town between seven 
 and eight without interruption. 
 
 The company at Margate amuse themselves in 
 the morning with riding or walking, and going to 
 60
 
 the circulating libraries. The country about Charles 
 Margate is very fine ; there are several pleasant R lvm S| on ' s 
 villages near it, which are often visited in the 
 morning excursions. The two libraries are much 
 frequented, and are both very convenient lounging- 
 places, and a person who has any acquaintances 
 is sure to meet with some of them at these shops. 
 Here you may sit and chat, or read the news- 
 papers, or if you have a few shillings to sport 
 away, try your luck in the raffles. The rooms 
 are open from eleven to one for the company to 
 walk, and there is music ; but in fine weather 
 they are not much frequented. Many parties are 
 made for going on the sea to fish, and when the 
 weather is favourable are very agreeable. The 
 rooms are open every evening ; three times in the 
 week there are balls ; these are conducted by a 
 master of the ceremonies, who is supported by 
 the subscriptions of the company. Those who 
 dislike dancing play at cards, or walk about. On 
 those nights when there is no dancing there are 
 plays, to which the company generally go once 
 or twice in the season. These, I think, are the 
 chief amusements of this place. The summer 
 having been uncommonly fine it was very full. 
 
 Feb. 10, 1779. This being the day appointed 
 by authority for a general fast and humiliation, it 
 
 61
 
 Charles was by all serious people properly observed. I 
 
 Rivington's was at i s ij n rr ton> Mr. Strachan preached, and 
 Journal. 
 
 made a very sensible sermon upon the occasion, 
 
 which was in general much approved of. 
 
 [The following extract of one month's engage- 
 ments will serve as a fair specimen of the entries 
 relating to his usual course of life.] 
 
 Feb. i, 1780. Supped at my Club. 
 
 Feb. 2. Spent the evening at Mr. Clarke's at 
 Sadler's Hall, Cheapside. There was a very large 
 company. I believe near sixteen. I played at 
 cards before supper. We were very joyous after- 
 wards, and about twelve o'clock we began dancing. 
 We made up seven or eight couple, but our music 
 being only a harpsichord, and the gentleman who 
 played not a very capital performer, we were 
 obliged to sit down, after we had gone down one 
 or two dances. We broke up about one o'clock. 
 
 Feb. 3. Engaged in business in St. Paul's 
 Churchyard all the evening. 
 
 Feb. 4. This day being appointed for a fast, 
 we did no business. I went to church at 
 Islington, and heard a very good sermon from 
 Mr. Crowther. There was a numerous congre- 
 gation. 
 
 Feb. 5. Supped in St. Paul's Churchyard. 
 My brother and sister J. R. were there. 
 62
 
 Sunday, Feb. 6. Dined at Islington. Charles 
 
 Feb. 7. Supped at Mr. Wheeler's. Mr., Mrs., f ivin g ton ' s 
 
 ' Journal, 
 and Miss Edison, my aunt and Mr. J. Wheeler, 
 
 and Mr. J. Wilkins, were there. Miss Edison's 
 person is pleasing, rather pretty. She seems to 
 promise to be a very accomplished young lady. 
 
 Feb. 9. Supped at the King's Head Room, 
 Islington, with the Committee of the Assembly, 
 Mr. Hole, Hodges, Curtis, Morgan, Shirley, Rev. 
 Mr. Walker, and myself, were the company. We 
 played at whist, and I passed an agreeable 
 evening. Mr. Shirley is a sensible man, and a 
 very entertaining companion. 
 
 Feb. 10. Went with my two sisters and my 
 brother Harry to Drury Lane Theatre to see The 
 Winters Tale and The Critic. I had seen both 
 these pieces before, but was very well entertained. 
 My mother paid the whole expense. 
 
 Feb. 1 1 . Spent the evening at my brother's in 
 St. John's Square, Mr. Richard Watford, Mr. 
 Wm. Sellon, and Mr. Kinnard were there. 
 
 Feb. 12. Supped at the same house. My 
 brother and sister F. R. were there. 
 
 Sunday, Feb. 13. Dined at Islington. Mr. 
 Thomas Wheeler came in the afternoon to tea. 
 
 Feb. 14. Went to Islington Assembly. There 
 was very little company there. We made up 
 only eight couples. I danced with Miss Roberts. 
 
 63
 
 Charles We had two cotillons after the country dances, 
 
 Tourn g an< ^ a mmuet - ^ passed a very agreeable evening. 
 
 Feb. 15. Supped at my Club. It was a good 
 meeting. There were ten members and a visitor. 
 
 Feb. 1 6. Supped by appointment at Mr. Wat- 
 ford's brewhouse in Clerkenwell. Our invitation 
 was to sup in the bachelor's style. Mr. W. 
 Sellon, Mr. G. Scott, and my brother J. R. were 
 there. Mr. Scott is a most lively, entertaining 
 companion, and set us upon the laugh continually. 
 We played at cards all the evening, and passed 
 our time very agreeably. 
 
 Feb. 1 8. Spent the evening, by appointment, 
 at Mr. Cawne's. Mrs. Cawne from Romford, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Elliot, Mr. Bax, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wheeler, Mr. Cameron the banker, my sister, and 
 my brother and sister F. R., were there. Our 
 supper was very elegant. 
 
 Feb. 19. Supped in St. Paul's Churchyard. 
 My brother and sister J. R. were there. 
 
 Sunday, Feb. 20. Dined at Islington. My 
 aunt Wheeler, with my cousin Susanna Riving- 
 ton, daughter of my uncle J. R. a very fine 
 girl of ten years old, of pleasing manners, and 
 great sensibility for her years, lately arrived from 
 America, and consigned to the care of my aunt, 
 Mr. Storhouse, and Mr. Thomas and Peter 
 Wheeler were there. 
 64 
 
 I
 
 Feb. 21. Went to Clerkenwell Assembly. It Charles 
 
 was a very full meeting. I danced two minuets R lvm Sft ns 
 
 Journal, 
 before the country dances. I had for my partner 
 
 a Miss Rush, to whom I was introduced by Mr. 
 Bristowe. There were two sisters there, and I 
 danced with the youngest. She is a smart young 
 lady about seventeen or eighteen. The two last 
 dances we did not go down, but played a rubber 
 at whist. 
 
 Feb. 22. Went to the play at half-price. I 
 got a very good seat in the pit, and saw the two 
 last acts of The Rivals, which are very laughable, 
 but I think rather too farcical. The entertainment 
 was the Pantomime of Fortunatus, with which I 
 was very well entertained. It concluded with a 
 representation of the storming of Fort Omsa. The 
 scene is finely painted, and was much applauded. 
 
 Feb. 24. Went with my sister to see Mrs. 
 Cowley's new comedy at Covent Garden, called 
 Tlte Belle's Stratagem, with which we were very 
 much pleased. The entertainment was The Deaj 
 Lover, which is a laughable performance. 
 
 Feb. 26. Supped in St. John's Square. My 
 sister, and my brother and sister F. R., were there. 
 
 Sunday, Feb. 27. Went to St. Paul's in the 
 morning. Dined at Islington, as did my brother 
 F. R. Came to town in the evening, and supped 
 at my aunt Wheeler's. 
 
 65
 
 Charles Feb. 28. Rose in the morning before seven 
 
 and went to Mr> Cowlin S' s riding-school, for the 
 first time this winter, and rode on horseback, in- 
 tending to take lessons for a month. Supped at 
 Mr. F. Gosling's. There were there my sister, 
 my brother and sister F. R., Mr. Cawne, Mr. F. 
 Douce, Mr. E. Gosling, and another gentleman. 
 
 Feb. 29. Magazine night. Slept in St. Paul's 
 Churchyard. 
 
 Sunday, July 10. Supped in St. Paul's Church- 
 yard. I this day received a summons, as a 
 member of the Military Association, to meet the 
 corps in St. Paul's Churchyard early to-morrow 
 morning, completely armed and accoutred, in 
 order to assist the Sheriffs in the discharge of 
 their office at the execution of the rioters. J 
 
 July 1 1 . This morning I attended, as above 
 mentioned, at half-past six o'clock, and with 
 about two hundred of our corps was present at 
 three executions, viz. in Coleman Street, Bishops- 
 gate Street, and Tower Hill. The number of 
 people who were at the executions in Bishopsgate 
 Street and Tower Hill was very great. They 
 were very quick, and there was no more con- 
 fusion than must be expected from a multitude 
 collecting together in one place and each individual 
 
 1 Lord George Gordon riots. 
 66
 
 anxious to satisfy his curiosity. The convicts Charles 
 
 behaved with great penitence. I should not R ivin s ton ' s 
 
 Journal, 
 omit to mention that the Sheriffs gave us a 
 
 breakfast at the White Hart Tavern, which was 
 necessary, as we were under arms between eight 
 and nine hours, and the day was warm and sultry. 
 I supped in St. Paul's Churchyard. 
 
 July 12. This morning I attended as before, 
 and was present at two executions, viz. in Bow 
 Street, Covent Garden, and Holborn. The day 
 was rather unfavourable. We had several very 
 heavy showers of rain, which wetted me to my 
 skin, and made the streets so dirty and slippery 
 that our march was very disagreeable. I con- 
 sidered this as a kind of seasoning very useful for 
 a young soldier. The criminals seemed to die very 
 penitent. We went in the evening to Mr. Mair's, 
 and supped there. Miss Mair was there upon a visit. 
 
 July 20. Attended, with about one hundred of 
 the Association, the executions this morning at 
 Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, and Shoreditch. 
 We had a breakfast at the Sheriffs' expense at 
 the White Hart Tavern. We marched near nine 
 miles, and were under arms between eight and 
 nine hours. In the evening supped in St. Paul's 
 Churchyard. 
 
 July 21. Attended again this morning two 
 executions at Old Street and Moorfields. There 
 
 67
 
 Charles were not above fifty of our corps that attended 
 
 Rivington's these execu ti ons . p ar t of the time we were out 
 Journal. 
 
 it rained hard, and wetted most of us to the skin. 
 
 At these two places five men were executed, and all 
 behaved in a very proper manner. I supped in 
 St. Paul's Churchyard. 
 
 July 22. I this morning attended with the 
 Association as before, and was present at an 
 execution in Bloomsbury Square, where two of 
 the rioters suffered. 
 
 Aug. i. Supped in St. John's Square. 
 
 Wednesday, Aug. 2. Went to the artillery 
 ground in the afternoon, and was drilled with 
 many others. Slept in town. 
 
 Wednesday \ Aug. 9. Went in the afternoon 
 to the artillery ground, where I was drilled with 
 the other recruits. I went in my regimental coat, 
 being in hopes of joining the battalion, but was 
 disappointed. Supped in St. Paul's Churchyard. 
 
 Aug. 1 6. Admitted into the 4th Company of 
 the London Association. 
 
 Aug. 17. Dined at the Half Moon Tavern 
 with my Club. There were about twelve members 
 present. I was challenged by Radford to go 
 through the manual exercise with him for a bottle 
 of claret. This I accepted, but, to my great 
 mortification, by beginning in a hurry I made a 
 blunder and lost my wager ! 
 68
 
 [The Journal was discontinued about this time, 
 in consequence of an excursion into the country, 
 and was not resumed till the autumn of the follow- 
 ing year, 1781.] 
 
 I begin with the occasion of my not con- Charles 
 tinuing my narrations. The office of printer [to Rivington's 
 the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge] 
 became vacant the latter end of August, and the 
 election was not until the 3rd of October. During 
 this period I was much engaged in canvassing 
 [for my brother], a considerable part of which busi- 
 ness fell to my lot, having a personal knowledge 
 of many of the members. . . . The Archbishop of 
 Canterbury did us the honour of coming to vote in 
 person for my brother, and the members who 
 made my brother's number 58 were characters as 
 respectable as any in the Society's list . . . 
 Though my time was almost wholly engaged 
 with this affair until the 3rd of October, yet 
 I found opportunity to attend some few engage- 
 ments. One in particular was of so new a 
 kind that I shall endeavour to give a particular 
 account of it This was attending, on the Qth of 
 September [ 1 7 8 1 ], a party of the London Associa- 
 tion, who agreed to go to Sydenham to practise 
 ball-firing. We were about 150 in number, and 
 set ofif from the Obelisk in St. George's Fields 
 
 69
 
 Charles about five in the morning, attended by two or three 
 
 Rivington's sergeants o f tne Guards with drums and fifes. 
 Journal. 
 
 We marched down to Dulwich, where we stopped 
 
 and breakfasted, and then marched to Sydenham 
 Common. Here we were drawn up in two ranks, 
 and went through the manual exercise ; we then 
 moved to the ground, where we practised firing 
 at targets. The place was excellently well 
 adapted for the purpose, being almost an amphi- 
 theatre of hills. Each company fired at a par- 
 ticular target, and fired twelve rounds of ball. 
 When these were discharged we returned to the 
 Common, and were refreshed with some bread and 
 cheese and beer. We then were supplied with 
 eighteen rounds of cartridges, and marched back 
 to Dulwich Common, where we had a sham fight, 
 which was new to us, and entertaining. When 
 this was over the whole corps joined and went 
 through a variety of manoeuvres in marching, 
 which lasted until four o'clock. We then dined at 
 Dulwich (I think at the Greyhound). Our dinner 
 was very plain and substantial, and very reasonable, 
 as we paid but five shillings for the expenses of the 
 day. We were not allowed to sit more than half 
 an hour after dinner, lest after the fatigue we had 
 undergone the bottle might be circulated with too 
 great freedom. We got to town between eight 
 and nine. Upon the whole we had a very agree- 
 70
 
 able day. The exercise was rather too much, as Charles 
 
 we did not march less than twenty-five miles, which R lvm ^n s 
 
 Journal, 
 to young men in business, and therefore not likely 
 
 to be much accustomed to this kind of exercise, 
 was certainly too fatiguing. Fortunately for us, 
 the day was very favourable, the sun scarcely 
 appearing. Had it been otherwise, I think many 
 of us would have been ill. I was not so much 
 tired as I expected. The I4th of this month 
 I was invited by my friend, Mr. E. Clarke, to an 
 annual dance given by the Sadlers' Company at 
 their hall. I danced with his sister, whom I 
 think I have had occasion to mention before. 
 There was a mixture of company some very 
 vulgar. I danced two or three cotillons, and upon 
 the whole spent an agreeable evening. On the 
 24th I attended the funeral of Alderman Kirk- 
 man, as a member of the London Association. 
 He was buried in Bassishaw Church. He had 
 behaved with great spirit during the late riots, 
 and had paid particular attention to the t City 
 Light Horse Volunteers, who, to show respect to 
 his memory, offered to attend the funeral, as did 
 the Foot Association. The procession was long, 
 and was conducted with great solemnity. It was 
 attended by as great a concourse of spectators as 
 ever were brought together by any public sight in 
 London. The number of our corps who attended
 
 Charles was about 260 the strongest meeting we ever 
 
 Rivington's had We rendezvoused at the obelisk in St. 
 Journal. 
 
 George's Fields, where we met, and conducted 
 
 the body through the city to the church. The 
 number of the Light Horse Volunteers present 
 was about fifty. The Lord Mayor and Court of 
 Aldermen attended the procession. A band of 
 martial instruments, consisting of kettledrums, 
 trumpets, and fifes played alternately, and added 
 greatly to the solemnity of the whole. Our corps 
 was drawn up near the church in Basinghall 
 Street, and as soon as the body was interred we 
 fired three volleys. We marched with our arms 
 in the funeral position. Soon after we were 
 drawn up in St. George's Fields previous to the 
 procession there fell one of the most violent 
 showers of rain I ever remember, which lasted 
 several minutes, and wetted the whole corps as 
 completely as if they had been dragged through a 
 pond. Our clothes dried upon our backs. I was 
 fortunate enough to escape taking cold. The 
 month of October passed away without anything 
 material, except the event on the 3rd instant 
 which I have mentioned. Nor do I remember 
 anything happening worth relating in November, 
 excepting that I dined at the London Tavern 
 with the Association on the 1 3th, when a very 
 elegant sword was presented to Mr. Turner, our 
 72
 
 commander, from the Association, who returned Charles 
 
 them his thanks in so handsome a manner as to 
 
 Journal. 
 
 please every one. December also, if my memory 
 fails not, was equally barren of events. 
 
 Having adopted the narrative mode, I cannot 
 close this sketch without observing that my time 
 was filled up much in the same way as heretofore. 
 One amusement, however, I was deprived of, 
 which was the Assembly at Islington. It had not 
 been well attended the last winter, and therefore 
 it was thought it might as well be dropped this, 
 and perhaps might be revived with more spirit in a 
 succeeding year. This was rather a disappoint- 
 ment to me, as it was the most agreeable Assembly 
 for dancing I ever was at. But I reconciled 
 it with a degree of satisfaction by recollecting 
 that I should be saved an expense which to my 
 finances was considerable. 
 
 This year fully completes twenty-six years of 
 my life. It is difficult for me to say how it has 
 been spent. But when I acknowledge there is 
 much to blame, I hope I may say there is some- 
 thing to commend. Yet if these memoranda 
 which I have made in this book are to be the 
 test of my conduct, it must appear to be very 
 trifling and vain. Indeed I am almost ashamed 
 myself to read my own account, for it makes me 
 appear to have studied nothing else but how to 
 
 73
 
 Charles dissipate my time in amusement. I must, there- 
 
 Rivmgton's f Q j n j ust } ce to m y se lf observe that I intended 
 Journal. 
 
 by what I have written to give nothing more 
 
 than an account of my amusements. 
 
 Aug. 19, 1781. The first engagement of any 
 consequence I had this year was to a private 
 dance at Mrs. Robinson's in Highburgh Place on 
 the nth of January. I had for my partner Miss 
 Richardson. We had a very handsome supper, 
 and spent a very agreeable evening. The I7th 
 instant I went to the ball at the Pantheon, given 
 by our Association. Each member paid a guinea 
 for his ticket, which admitted himself and three 
 ladies, or one gentleman and two ladies. My 
 brother J. R. and two sisters went with me. My 
 brother and sister F. R. went with Mr. Clarke. 
 The Association wore their uniform. There were 
 between twelve and fifteen hundred present, and 
 they made a brilliant appearance. There were a 
 great many 'pretty women, and but few of the 
 vulgar. Upon the whole we were very much en- 
 tertained with our evening, and the company 
 seemed in general pleased. Indeed the whole 
 was conducted with the greatest regularity and 
 decorum, and gave great satisfaction. The 24th 
 I went to Dowgate Hill Assembly, my brother 
 having given me a ticket. I danced with Miss 
 Sharpe of Bridge Street, a very agreeable young 
 74
 
 lady, and pleasing person. The 25th I dined at Charles 
 the London Tavern at the Anniversary Dinner R ivin Sj on ' s 
 of St. Paul's School. The meeting was but thin. 
 I spent, however, an agreeable afternoon and even- 
 ing. On the 5th of February I was summoned 
 to attend the London Association, who, in order 
 to prevent troops being sent into the city, had 
 offered their services to the Sheriffs to preserve the 
 peace of the city during the trial of Lord George 
 Gordon, which came on this day. We met at the 
 Royal Exchange between eight and nine in the 
 morning, and after being mustered, we marched 
 to St. Paul's Churchyard. Our number was about 
 190 or 200. The care of the city west of St. 
 Paul's Churchyard was left to our Association. 
 The other parts were guarded by the Artillery 
 Company and the Ward Associations. St. Paul's 
 Cathedral was our head-quarters, and at night the 
 Queen Anne's Tavern. We were stationed at St. 
 Paul's; Newgate; St. Andrew's, Holborn ; St. Dun- 
 stan's, Fleet Street ; and Blackfriars. At these 
 posts half our corps in different parties were con- 
 stantly upon duty, and relieved one another every 
 two hours. I happened not to go upon duty till 
 two o'clock in the afternoon. I then went to St. 
 Andrew's till four o'clock ; from eight till ten I 
 was in St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street, and from two 
 to four on Tuesday morning was at Newgate. 
 G 75
 
 Charles We were on duty from nine o'clock on Monday 
 morning till near six on Tuesday morning. We 
 were very fortunate in the day being fine and the 
 night remarkably mild and pleasant for the season. 
 It was my lot when at Newgate to be sentried 
 before the gate in the Old Bailey from two to 
 three. I played at cards several hours at different 
 opportunities to pass away the time. Everything 
 passed off very quietly in the streets.
 
 DEATH OF CAPTAIN ROBERT 
 RIVINGTON l 
 
 October 9, 1 800 
 Captain of the Kent, East Indiaman 
 
 " From the " India Telegraph " 
 
 ON Sunday last accounts were received of the Captain 
 
 Captain of the Honourable Company's ship Kent, Robert 
 
 Rivington. 
 
 Captain Rivington, after an engagement of con- 
 siderable duration with the Confiance, Captain 
 Surcouf, off the Land Heads. The following 
 particulars we have received from the officers, 
 passengers, etc. 
 
 On Tuesday morning, 7th October, 1800, at 
 daylight, a strange sail was discovered in the north- 
 west quarter. The Kent was at that time lying 
 to for a pilot, and Captain Rivington, conceiving 
 the vessel in sight to be a pilot schooner, immedi- 
 ately bore down, hoisted his colours, and made 
 1 See pages 16, 17. 
 
 77
 
 Captain the signal for a pilot. The stranger upon this 
 Rivington ma de sail and hauled up towards the Kent, It 
 was soon afterwards discovered that she was a 
 ship ; the hands were immediately called to 
 quarters, and the ship prepared for action. Upon 
 her approach to the Kent, as she showed no 
 colours, a shot was fired at her from the larboard 
 side, which was followed up as she passed upon 
 the opposite tack by a broadside, and a constant 
 fire kept up whilst she was within reach of our 
 guns. The privateer (for so she was ascertained 
 to be now) soon afterwards tacked, came upon 
 the larboard side, and commenced the engage- 
 ment at about musket shot, but without doing 
 much injury, although she continued in this 
 position for some time. She then shot ahead, 
 and passing round the bows of the Kent, renewed 
 the engagement on the other side, nearly at the 
 same distance and for the same length of time, 
 but with as little effect as before. She after- 
 wards made sail ahead, as if with the intention of 
 relinquishing the attack and making off, which 
 she could easily have done, having greatly the 
 superiority in sailing ; when she had got about 
 half a mile ahead of the Kent she was, how- 
 ever, observed to haul her mainsail up, swerve 
 round immediately towards her, and in about ten 
 or fifteen minutes afterwards, or as soon as her 
 78
 
 guns would bear, she, for the first time, hoisted Captain 
 
 the national colours (Surcouf afterwards declared R pkert 
 
 Rivmgton. 
 that he had forgot them before), and fired a 
 
 broadside, and a volley of musketry from every 
 part of the ship, which was immediately returned 
 by the Kent, and continued while her guns could 
 bear. The privateer, then wearing round her 
 stern, ranged close up alongside and received a 
 full discharge from the Kent's starboard guns. 
 At this moment she fired a whole broadside and 
 threw a number of hand-grenades from her tops 
 into the Kent, some of which penetrated the 
 upper deck and burst upon the gun deck. At the 
 same time a fire of musketry was kept up from 
 her tops, which killed and wounded a number of 
 passengers and recruits that were on the quarter- 
 deck and poop. When the ships were completely 
 locked together, Captain Surcouf entered at the 
 head of about 150 men, completely armed for 
 boarding, having each a sabre and a brace of 
 pistols. The contest on deck was now desperate, 
 and lasted for about twenty minutes, but the 
 enemy having greatly the superiority, both in 
 numbers and arms, were victorious, and a dreadful 
 carnage ensued, they showing no quarter to any 
 who came in their way, whether with or with- 
 out arms ; and such was their savage cruelty 
 that they even stabbed some of the sick in bed. 
 
 79
 
 Captain Upon gaining possession of the poop the 
 
 rt French immediately cut down the colours, and 
 
 soon after had complete possession of the ship. 
 Captain Surcouf, not finding inclination in his 
 crew to board, had been under the necessity of 
 plying them several times with liquor, as well as 
 to promise them an hour's pillage in the event of 
 carrying the ship, and this time they completely 
 occupied breaking open every package they could 
 come at, and even taking the coats, hats, shoes, 
 or anything they fancied from the persons of the 
 officers and passengers. 
 
 From the commencement of the action until 
 the French were in possession of the ship was 
 about an hour and forty-seven minutes, and 
 from the gallant manner in which the officers 
 and crew of the Kent behaved while the ships 
 were clear of each other, there is not a doubt 
 but she would have overcome the privateer ; 
 but there being a very great deficiency in small 
 arms, they had no means of defending them- 
 selves against such a number of boarders, so well 
 prepared for close action, and Captain Surcouf 
 acknowledged that had he not succeeded in carry- 
 ing her, his own ship must soon have sunk 
 alongside. 
 
 It is with extreme regret we add that Captain 
 Rivington, after the most manly conduct in the 
 80
 
 defence of his ship, fell by the musketry from the Captain 
 
 tops of the privateer, while Surcouf was in the act . ert 
 
 Rivmgtc 
 
 of boarding. Such was the lamented though 
 glorious end of this gallant commander, who had 
 been thirty years in the service, was respected by 
 all his crew, and beloved by all who knew him. 
 
 In the afternoon the officers, passengers, and 
 crew of the Kent were sent on board an Arab 
 vessel which hove in sight, and which had been 
 plundered the day before by the privateer. Some 
 of the seamen were, however, detained on board 
 the privateer and put into irons, with the hopes 
 of inducing them to enter service. The chief 
 officer, surgeon, and surgeon's mate, with about 
 thirteen of the most dangerously wounded, were 
 detained on board the Kent, under pretence of 
 its requiring too much time to remove them. 
 Although the prize master informed the unfortun- 
 ate people who were sent on board the Arab that 
 there was abundance of provisions and water, yet 
 upon inquiry there was found only half a pint of 
 rain water each day for four days with a few dates, 
 to subsist upon, and were consequently reduced to 
 the utmost distress before they were relieved by 
 one of the pilot schooners they met in the roads. 
 
 81 
 
 LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OP CATJFORNIA
 
 Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh
 
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